Learn about jobs to be done (JTBD), an important theory for boosting business innovation and understanding customers, and apply it to your business.
Jobs to be done (JTBD) refers to a business theory, framework, and perspective on why customers buy products. Also called jobs theory, JTBD posits that people don’t buy products; they “hire” them to do jobs, such as solving a problem or fulfilling a desire.
When you think about the jobs to be done theory, you focus more on a customer’s circumstances—what they experience that leads them to make a purchase—than their demographic or psychographic profile, such as age, level of education, and value system. While you may notice some correlation between sales and the demographics or psychographics of the customers, customer attributes do not equate to causation. According to JTBD theory, purchase decisions are determined by a product’s ability to get a job done effectively and at the best price.
A "job to be done" is the specific task or outcome a customer expects to accomplish using a product or service. The "job" is often functional but also includes emotional and social aspects that influence buying decisions. Ultimately, customers want to “hire” products to solve their problems or effectively fulfill their desires. Review the following "jobs" a smartphone can do:
Financial: A financial goal you expect to reach by buying a smartphone (save money or show off a raise)
Functional: A specific task you expect the smartphone to do or a feature you want (high-resolution camera or video streaming)
Personal: The change you expect the smartphone to bring to your life (a new job or connection to others)
Social: The message you're trying to send to others by purchasing the produce (you have enough money to buy a specific brand)
Use the following examples of jobs that products can help you do as inspiration for applying JTBD theory in your work.
Get my clothes clean and fresh: “Hire” laundry detergent to deliver the result.
Nourish my body: “Hire” vitamins, supplements, and healthy food.
Find my documents easily: “Hire,” a digital app for note-taking and file storage.
Did you know? Tony Ulwick, founder of the innovative consulting firm Strategym, introduced a concept called Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI). Ulwick later introduced ODI to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Professor who popularised it under the name “Jobs To Be Done.”
The JTBD framework is important because it helps you understand your customer's reasons for purchasing a product or service. You can use it to benefit your business in several ways:
Reveal your customers’ true needs and desires. What is their objective or desired outcome for a given situation?
Develop products that meet needs and fulfill desires.
Design memorable customer experiences.
Predict how your innovations will fare on the market.
Inform marketing content and messaging that speaks to the fulfilment of customers’ needs and desires.
Develop a JTBD-inspired business plan centred around customers’ needs and desires to guide your business decisions.
To identify jobs to be done in your business, consider your customers and their wants and desires. Follow these steps to discover more about your target customers and the jobs your products can perform for them.
Ask yourself the following questions:
What pain points do my customers have in common?
What do they currently lack?
What challenges exist for them?
Without reference to the products or solutions you currently provide, complete the following phrases as though you were the customer:
Help me do ________.
Help me to avoid ________.
I need to ________.
For example, how “Help me save time in the morning” articulates a specific desire could lead to a product idea like an app for scheduling morning routines. Likewise, “I need to take more clothes when I travel” expresses a precise need that could be met with a product like a carry-on suitcase with more storage compartments. Putting customer desires and needs into clear words can help you generate ideas for useful products and solutions.
You may also find it helpful to ask your customers and prospects to complete these phrases so that you can gather a variety of jobs to be done with insights.
What does a customer want to achieve in a particular circumstance?
What could help the customer achieve this, such as resources, tools, or information?
What constraints keep the customer from achieving the desired outcome, such as not having access to needed resources or doubting their abilities?
What are the functional aspects of what needs to be done? What will it help them do, such as complete a task more efficiently or avoid tasks they don’t want to do?
What social or emotional factors correspond to a customer’s objective, including how they want to feel and be perceived by others?
Using the ideas you gathered in the above steps, construct a jobs-to-be-done statement that can lead to more product innovations. Draw from the template and music streaming example below.
Jobs to be done template | Statement example |
---|---|
I want to (desire/motivation) | I want to listen to my favourite songs |
when (situation/context) | while exercising |
so that I can (outcome/result) | so that I can feel motivated and inspired |
without (pain point/constraint). | without having to listen to commercials or skip songs I don’t like. |
Incorporating JTBD into product development helps ensure your product/service better aligns with users’ goals and motivations. JTBD can enhance your product’s or service’s appeal, ultimately driving higher purchase rates and customer satisfaction.
Level up your sales strategy further by exploring sales enablement, lead generation, reporting, and more with the Sales Training: Inbound Business Strategy course offered by HubSpot on Coursera. Beginner-friendly, this course details the four stages of inbound methodology—attract, convert, close, and delight. You may also be interested in the Customer Understanding and Digital Marketing Channels course by Unilever or Curiosity: A Necessary Ingredient for Successful Innovation by the University of Arizona where you’ll explore conducting marketplace conversations and the value of customer archetypes and personas to enhance ideas.
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